PART 37: HAROLD’S LAST WARNING
Nobody in the office moved.
The only sound was the old ceiling fan turning above us.
My eyes remained fixed on Harold’s notebook.
PAULA.
Not a target number.
Not an address.
Not a property.
Just my daughter’s name.
“No…”
I whispered.
“Harold would never…”
Linda gently placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Maggie.”
“Look closer.”
My vision was blurred with tears, but I forced myself to focus.
She was right.
The word PAULA wasn’t written in the same black ink as the rest of the page.
It had been written later.
In blue ink.
Harold’s blue fountain pen.
Thomas leaned closer.
“There’s something underneath.”
Linda carefully held the page beneath a forensic light.
Faint impressions began to appear.
Words Harold had written on the page above years earlier.
The technician adjusted the light again.
Slowly…
Sentence by sentence…
The hidden writing emerged.
If they cannot reach Maggie…
Another line appeared.
…they will eventually try to reach Paula.
Paula covered her mouth.
“Oh, Dad…”
The next sentence appeared.
Do not let her think she is the target.
Linda frowned.
“What?”
The final line slowly became visible.
She is only the doorway.
Silence.
Complete silence.
The sheriff looked around the room.
“What does that mean?”
Janice answered before anyone else.
“It means they never wanted Paula.”
Everyone turned toward her.
“They wanted whoever Paula would trust.”
My heart sank.
“Dale.”
Janice nodded.
“Or you.”
“Or your grandchildren.”
“Anyone connected to the family.”
Dale slowly sat down.
“They used me.”
Nobody answered.
Because everyone in the room was beginning to think the same thing.
Maybe Dale hadn’t been chosen because he was guilty.
Maybe he had been chosen because he was vulnerable.
Father Donnelly slowly opened his eyes.
“Harold told me something once.”
“What?” I asked.
“He said…”
‘The cleverest trap isn’t built around the victim.’
‘It’s built around the person the victim loves most.’
Tears rolled silently down Paula’s face.
She walked across the room until she stood in front of Dale.
For a long moment she simply looked at him.
Then she asked the question none of us had dared ask.
“When we met…”
“…was it real?”
Dale’s eyes filled with tears.
“I’ve asked myself that every day since all of this began.”
He looked directly at her.
“I don’t know if someone introduced us on purpose.”
“I don’t know if I was being watched.”
“I don’t know how much of my life belongs to me anymore.”
He swallowed hard.
“But I know this.”
“I fell in love with you.”
“That part was real.”
Paula closed her eyes.
A single tear slipped down her cheek.
Before she could answer…
Linda’s phone vibrated.
She glanced at the screen.
“It’s the forensic lab.”
She answered immediately.
“This is Mercer.”
The analyst didn’t bother with greetings.
“We finished restoring the damaged cassette.”
Linda’s eyes widened.
“The missing second side?”
“Yes.”
Every person in the room froze.
“Can you hear Harold?”
“Perfectly.”
“What does he say?”
There was a pause.
Then the analyst spoke quietly.
“The first sentence is…”
‘If you’re hearing Side Two…’
‘…then someone betrayed me after my death.’
My heart skipped.
Linda’s grip tightened on the phone.
“What else?”
The analyst hesitated.
“Mrs. Mercer…”
“I think you should hear this yourself.”
“Why?”
“Because twenty-three seconds into the recording…”
“…Harold says the name of the person he believed would betray him.”
The room fell completely silent.
Linda’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Who?”
The analyst answered with a single sentence.
“We won’t say it over the phone.”
“But I can tell you this…”
“…it’s someone who’s been in the room with you today.”
